The Beaver - HBC

In October 1920 the Hudson's Bay Company put out it's first issue of their magazine aptly titled "The Beaver". It began as a project for the Company's 250th anniversary and was at first read by mostly employees of HBC. As a feature for the February 1921 issue, the magazine held a baby photo contest - babies of fathers that worked for Hudson's Bay Company.  They mention there was only a limited time to enter, otherwise they would have received more photos. If you have an ancestor born in western Canada about end of 1920 whose father worked for HBC, perhaps their picture is among this "Bevy of Babies"!

Most issues had news from their different posts or stores, including the happenings of their employees. Also photos of people and places. When in 1923 they started adding stories about life in Canada's north, it began to appeal to a wider audience.  

My husband has a copy of the Winter 1975 issue because this issue tells the story about his fur trader ancestor Jean Baptiste Nolin, and how his daughters Angelique and Marguerite started the first girls school in western Canada at St Boniface.

 

 Clicking on above image opens a pdf of this article

 

 

In 1924 it went from a monthly to a quarterly magazine. In 1994 the Hudson's Bay Company donated its archive collection to the province of Manitoba and Canada's National History Society was born. The society took over publication of the magazine and while still titled The Beaver it included "Canada's History Magazine". In 2010 the name changed to "Canada's History".

 

 



Relevant Links:

February 1921 Issue of The Beaver

Other Early Issues of The Beaver (several issues from Vol 1)

The Fur Trade

The fur trade was not just an industry in early Canada, it was also important for exploration and mapping.  If you have an ancestor that worked in the fur trade, there is lots of information about it on the internet. Some farmers took fur trapping jobs in the winter to make extra money to buy more land.

The Voyageurs were the canoe traveling workers for fur trading companies.  The Coureurs de Bois were unlicensed, independents. The fur trade was global – while Canada and the US were trading to Europe, Russia was trading furs to China and Islamic regions of Asia. Besides the well-known Hudson’s Bay Company, North West Company, and American Fur Company, there were also the Russian-American Company and the New Netherlands Company.

The trading companies soon realized they needed a Standard of value for furs, and it worked most of the time, not always.  When people think of the fur trade they think of beaver, but there were many other species including otter, sable, deer, bear, skunk, wolves, foxes and hares.

A prime beaver pelt was called a "made beaver" - a pelt which had already been worn for at least one season and from which most of the long outer hair had worn off. The greasy beaver wool was easily shaved from the skin by felters, and turned into the finest felt for making hats.

The prices of all trade goods were set in values of Made Beaver (MB) with other animal pelts, such as squirrel, otter and moose quoted in their MB (made beaver) equivalents. For example, 2 otter pelts might equal 1 MB.

There are many digitized books on the Fur Trade in North America – you can search google fur trade (also try + ancestors name) and choose Books from the google menu. Also try searching at archive.org. I am providing a few links that have names of people involved in the fur trade.

Relevant Links:

HBC Fur Trade Standard

The Bourgeois of the Northwest Trading Company (French) with names

History of the greater Northwest – Names

HBC Voyageurs database

LAC Fur Trade info and names

Five Fur Traders of the Northwest – diaries/names

NW Fur Traders – McGill (check other pages here)

New Netherland Company

Russian Fur Trade

Siberian Fur Trade

Davies/Scroggie Collection (some contracts)

Land Claims in Michigan (some by Fur Traders families)

Fur Trade to China 

The Voyageur and his Craft

Directory of the hat, cap, and fur trades, United States and Canada 1880

The John Askin Papers

Henry’sJournal – Fur Trade on the Red River

The Canadian North-west, its early development and legislative records : minutes of the Councils of the Red River colony and the Northern Department of Rupert's Land

The Beaver - HBC Periodical

Fur Trade Info at French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan